- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1171 · 12th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Centre-Val de Loire, France
- Style
- Gothic architecture
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 48.0706°, 1.3236°
History
The oldest part of the château is the cylindrical keep, built around 1171–1180 for Count Theobald V of Blois on the site of a 10th-century stronghold. In 1439 Charles of Orléans gave the château to his half-brother Jean de Dunois, the Bastard of Orléans and comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc. Dunois built the Sainte-Chapelle and a Gothic residential wing in 1451–1468, and his descendants, the dukes of Longueville, added a Renaissance wing to the west by 1518. When their line died out in 1694 the château passed to the dukes of Luynes; it served as barracks during the Revolution and was damaged in fighting with the Prussians in 1870. The state bought it in 1938 and undertook a thorough restoration.
What to see
The château stands on a rock above the Loir valley and opens onto a courtyard where three building periods can be seen side by side. Visitors see the keep with its original timber roof frame, two celebrated staircases – one late Gothic, one Renaissance – and rooms hung with a collection of several dozen tapestries. The Sainte-Chapelle keeps around fifteen painted 15th-century statues of saints and a fresco of the Last Judgement.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q1815544
Popularity: articles about this site in 18 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).